Question: Solve for $m$. $13 =2m+5$ $m = $
Solution: Let's subtract and then divide to get $m$ by itself. $\begin{aligned} 13 &=2m+5 \\ \\ 13{-5} &= 2m+5{-5}~~~~{\text{subtract }5} \text{ from each side}\\ \\ 13{-5}&=2m+\cancel{ 5} {{-}\cancel{{5}}}\\ \\ 13{-5}&=2m\end{aligned}$ $\begin{aligned}8 &= 2m \\ \\ \dfrac{8}{{2}} &= \dfrac{2m}{{2}} ~~~~~~~\text{divide each side by } {2} \text{ to get } m \text{ by itself }\\ \\ \dfrac8{{2}}&=\dfrac{\cancel{2}m}{\cancel{{2}}} \\ \\ \dfrac{8}{{2}}&=m \end{aligned}$ The answer: $m={4}~~~~~~~~$ [Let's check our work!]